Secure Firewall ASA and FTD
CVE-2020-3452: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Read-Only Path Traversal Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct directory traversal attacks and read sensitive files on a targeted system.
Published
Automatic summary from the vendor's CVE record. We haven't written a full analysis of this vulnerability yet.
Affected and fixed versions
| Product / branch | Fixed in |
|---|---|
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software unspecified | 9.6.4.42 or later |
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software unspecified | 9.8.4.20 or later |
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software unspecified | 9.9.2.74 or later |
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software unspecified | 9.10.1.42 or later |
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software unspecified | 9.13.1.10 or later |
| Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software unspecified | 9.14.1.10 or later |
Always confirm against the vendor advisory, which lists every fixed hotfix.
What it is
A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct directory traversal attacks and read sensitive files on a targeted system. The vulnerability is due to a lack of proper input validation of URLs in HTTP requests processed by an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request containing directory traversal character sequences to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view arbitrary files within the web services file system on the targeted device. The web services file system is enabled when the affected device is configured with either WebVPN or AnyConnect features. This vulnerability cannot be used to obtain access to ASA or FTD system files or underlying operating system (OS) files.
Exploitation
The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.
CISA lists this CVE as exploited in the wild since 3 Nov 2021.
Sources
KEV status, EPSS score and vendor data refreshed automatically, last on 11 Oct 2026.